


Where the Love Light Gleams

by Mia_Zeklos



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Christmas, M/M, everything takes place between season 1 and 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-09-07 21:58:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8817709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mia_Zeklos/pseuds/Mia_Zeklos
Summary: Magnus's Christmas looks unusually bleak this year, but things can still change.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MuscleMemory](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuscleMemory/gifts).



Magnus stared in despair at the ever growing pile of shopping bags on his sofa. He still had a time – at least a week, although that wasn’t that much for someone as busy as him – to wrap them all the presents up and send them all around the world to their potential owners, but he was going to have to do it all on his own. There was no magic for this.

With a sigh of resignation, he dropped the most recent additions next to the rest of the presents and made some place for himself to sit down.

Magnus had a complicated relationship with religion and a terribly simple one with Christmas. Most years, he’d have already planned a party and started working on the guest list – it was always encouraging to see the Downworld’s liveliness at the mere mention of festivities, even if it was in the midst of winter – but things were different this time around. He wasn’t in hiding, not anymore, but that didn’t mean that he was _safe_ , and it wasn’t just his personal safety that concerned him. He was a High Warlock, after all; he had to protect the ones in his care and people tended to get careless around the holidays, even if they were Warlocks.

So leaving New York – let alone the country – to deliver presents was out of the book for now. He didn’t think of himself as paranoid, but he felt as if the Circle’s invisible hold kept tightening around him even more with every passing day.

And he wasn’t the only one.

His phone had suddenly started vibrating in his pocket and Magnus groaned as he heard the tune. That meant that the Institute was calling and out of all the people Magnus wanted to talk to just then, anyone from the Institute was pretty low on the list.

“This is Bane speaking,” he introduced himself anyway. He already knew what they’d ask for, but being professional could never hurt.

Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t Maryse. Even less surprisingly, it was not a Lightwood at all.

“Magnus?” The voice was distorted through the phone, but Magnus still recognised it. “It’s Lydia.”

“Hello, Lydia.” She’d been making the official calls on the Institute’s behalf in the last few days. Apparently she was one of the few that the new Head of the Institute actually trusted and if he couldn’t deign to call himself, Lydia was the obvious choice. “Is this about the wards?”

“Yes.” There was a moment of uncomfortable silence on the other end of the line. “With Jocelyn here – and awake – we think there’s an even bigger chance of Valentine sending his forces in New York.”

“I’ll be there in an hour.” They’d already discussed the payment he received each time he strengthened the wards – it was an impressive sum, even for him – and he knew that they’d have called someone else already if he wasn’t the only one in the city (and likely the world) who could do it. It was something he didn’t want to miss out on, and also a welcome distraction from his thoughts, so he’d agreed without thinking twice.

“That’s... great.” There was both surprise and relief in Lydia’s tone and Magnus’s lips curled into a sardonic smile. “We’ll be expecting you.”

The idea of the welcoming committee he was likely to receive wasn’t a very encouraging one, but Magnus tried not to dwell on it too much. It wasn’t easy.

The last time he’d been in the Institute had been one of the few times he’d refused to take a job he was offered. He’d always made a point of not agreeing to anything that could hurt innocent people and that reputation had spread far enough for him not to get many offers of the sort anymore, but he’d received one of them in the most unexpected of places.

The most urgent topic in the Institute that day had been Jace’s absence – or rather, the fact that he’d willingly left with Valentine. Everyone left behind, including Magnus himself, had been interrogated carefully and then released as a sign of benevolence that Victor Aldertree had displayed to his protégées. Just as Magnus had exited the room they’d been taking them into one by one, Alec had caught up with him, asking for help. Magnus had promised him that he would do what he could, but had drawn the line at using Alec himself to track Jace, and the Shadowhunter hadn’t taken the refusal lightly. He’d given up eventually – Magnus hadn’t made it to High Warlock because he gave in easily – but Alec had persisted. They’d parted on the front doors of the Institute just after Alec had offered to pay him, as if that would make convincing him easier.

It wasn’t the offer itself that stung; making an exception for Alec once didn’t mean that he’d never charge him – or the Institute – for his services again. It was the fact that Alec thought that it was the lack of payment that stopped him and not the potential harm such a spell could bring him. He was angry and felt like he couldn’t do anything to help his parabatai and his family, and Magnus had done his best to be understanding, but he had his limits. Granted, his patience had run out even faster than usual, but Shadowhunters always seemed to find a way to infuriate him. Alec made no exception in that department.

Still, it didn’t matter. He’d get there, strengthen the wards and leave as soon as possible. He didn’t even have to _talk_ to anyone but the Head of the Institute.

**o.O.o**

Of course, it didn’t turn out to be that easy. Nothing ever did when it came to Nephilim, but Magnus had dared to hope. The Institute was _crowded_ and everyone seemed to have some urgent business to attend to. To Magnus’s even greater puzzlement, some of them seemed to be decorating, as if the holiday spirit was the most important thing they had to focus on.

“I know, it’s ridiculous.”

Magnus turned on his heel at the sound of Isabelle’s voice. _That_ was the one Lightwood he might have expected to see, and he was happy to see her. Isabelle managed to turn into the ray of sunshine in any room she entered and it almost worked now too; Magnus found himself forgetting for his earlier reluctance to come here.

“The decoration,” she clarified. “Everyone is trying to act as if everything’s just business as usual even if it’s obvious that it isn’t.”

“I didn’t think that Shadowhunters celebrated Christmas,” Magnus pointed out and Isabelle scoffed.

“We don’t. Not in the traditional sense, anyway; there is usually a party and we exchange presents, but that’s it.”

Magnus suspected that his and the Clave’s ideas of a Christmas party were drastically different, but was impressed nonetheless. Maybe not so much right now, though – leave it to Shadowhunters to try and pretend that they weren’t at war to make themselves feel better.

“It’s tonight, by the way,” Isabelle added, tone more cautious than it had been before. “I’m not sure you want to be here for it. If not, you can go sign the contract as soon as you’re finished. You know where Alec’s office is, right?”

Oh.

“That might not be the best idea,” Magnus suggested as delicately as possible, but Isabelle shook her head.

“It’s not my decision to make. Deals like this are still somehow his job when someone else took over, so...”

She didn’t need to finish. Magnus already knew what he’d have to do.

**o.O.o**

Alec’s office looked like a thunderstorm had passed through it. He sat in the middle of it, on a chair by his desk, still in full battle gear. Magnus wanted to ask what had happened, but suppressed the urge. If Alec wanted to talk, he’d talk.

“Magnus.” Alec’s eyes focused on him and the Warlock did his best not to visibly react. He looked like even more of a mess than he had the last time they’d seen each other; his hair ruffled and the circles under his eyes even darker. “You’re here for the...”

“The wards,” Magnus supplied. “I could come back later,” he added when Alec’s vacant expression didn’t change. “Or tomorrow. I heard about an event you’re having tonight.”

Alec’s eyes widened and, in a rush of rather unwelcome sympathy, Magnus realised that he’d probably forgotten all about that. Alec Lightwood, the most organised person on the planet, had forgotten about something happening in his own Institute. Well, not _his_ Institute; not anymore, and Magnus supposed that that was part of the problem.

“No,” Alec shook his head, rising to his feet to find the contract. “No, it’s fine. I’m fine. I’m...” His fingers faltered over the paper and he looked up once again. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s nothing,” Magnus waved him off. He hadn’t come here to fight; if they wanted to make things right, it didn’t have to be right now, but he wasn’t sure how to say it without sounding patronising. “There’s a lot going on right now; I understand-”

“It’s not nothing,” Alec insisted and stepped away from his chair, nearing the door where Magnus stood. “There is a lot going on, but none of it is your fault. If you don’t want to help me, that’s fine. I can find another way; I keep looking...” His voice died. “I shouldn’t have tried to make you do something against your will. And I _probably_ shouldn’t have tried to pay you for it.”

“Probably,” Magnus echoed. “But I can still help you if you want me to. Not with this,” he hurried to add at Alec’s look of surprise. “I’m not going to use you as a tracking device no matter what you say. But I can help you with everything else.” There seemed to be a lot of things Alec needed to be helped with, especially right now, and the relief in radiated from Alec as he nodded.

“You could, I don’t know,” Alec looked unsure for a second, but then took the plunge. “You could stay tonight. It would be helpful to have you there.”

“I’m not sure helpful’s the right word.” It was going to be full of Shadowhunters; not only local ones but possibly invitees from Idris as well. It was extremely likely that he’d be the only Downworlder. It was a terrible idea. He wasn’t sure he could resist it.

“I’m not sure either,” Alec conceded. “But I’d still like you to come. If you want to, of course. If you want to go, that’s fine, I can-”

“I’ll stay.” It was a terrible, terrible idea. Magnus couldn’t resist it.

Alec’s face lit up. “We’ve still got a few hours before that so if you want to get ready, you’ve still got time.”

“Oh, I’m ready,” Magnus assured him. “ _You_ aren’t. Do you have anything to wear?”

“I... don’t think so?” It dawned on Magnus that Alec probably had no idea that the clothes he used for hunting demons weren’t suitable when it came to official dinners.

“Then we’ll have to find you something. Come on, follow me,” he motioned, grinning at Alec’s long-suffering expression. If he’d allowed himself to show that much emotion, it meant that he was distracted enough from everything else and that was all Magnus had been aiming for. “You said it; we still have time.”

**Author's Note:**

> (The title is taken from _I'll be Home for Christmas_ , in case anyone's wondering.)
> 
> Merry Christmas to all and especially to you, @sfjessii! The prompts I was given to work with for this fic were amazing and I tried my hand at the professional sport option, but unfortunately I don't know enough about any sport out there to make it enjoyable enough. ;D The second prompt was 'angst with a happy ending', possibly with obstacles that somehow end up in a reunion and that's the direction I took. I hope you enjoy it!


End file.
